Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) introduced the Right to Contraception Act with Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-02), Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05), Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51), and 200 original cosponsors to guarantee by law the right to contraception.  Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced this legislation in the U.S. Senate today. 

“I am proud to introduce the Right to Contraception Act in the 119th Congress in response to the real threats to accessing birth control in Texas and across our country,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “With 200 original co-sponsors in the House, the Right to Contraception Act reflects the position of the vast majority of Americans who rely on contraception of all kinds to plan their families and their lives.  Efforts to restrict access to birth control are not about reflecting the will of the people, they are about taking away the freedom, dignity, and autonomy of all Americans.  As a representative from a state intent on taking our reproductive rights away, I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress and do everything I can to protect and restore the health, privacy, dignity, and autonomy of women and families across our country.  We will not give up.”

“The right to contraception is essential for the freedom for people to make decisions about their lives and their health without politicians getting in the way.” said Senator Ed Markey. “Contraception is essential not only for sexual and reproductive health but also to treat a wide array of medical conditions and decrease the risk of certain cancers. The Right to Contraception Act will protect the right for people to get contraception and for providers to give it in the face of President Trump and Republicans’ relentless attacks on reproductive justice.” 

“Access to birth control should be a given, but with extreme Republicans chipping away at women’s reproductive rights by the day, we have no choice but to enshrine this protection into law,” said Congresswoman Angie Craig.  “I will always stand up for our fundamental rights and freedoms, and that’s why I’m proud to be co-leading the Right to Contraception Act.”  

“It feels like every day, we wake up to someone trying to take away another fundamental right,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams.  “We have an extremist president, a submissive Republican Congress, and a radical Supreme Court that wants to undo decades of progress. That means it is up to us to protect the rights we once believed were secure—including access to contraception.

“I am co-leading the Right to Contraception Act to protect the millions of people who use contraception every day to safeguard their health, the health of others, or manage medical conditions,” continued Congresswoman Williams.  “We must continue to protect the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions.”

“Affordable, accessible contraception is one of the building blocks for people to be able to make ends meet and get what they want out of life,” said Congresswoman Sara Jacobs.  “And now that the Supreme Court has eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, Republicans at every level of government are targeting contraception access – including by threatening to gut Medicaid, the country’s biggest payer of reproductive health care coverage like contraception. We will keep fighting to pass the Right to Contraception Act to keep the government out of our business and out of our exam rooms.”

“Contraception is essential health care that millions of people across the country rely on,” said Senator Hirono. “The Right to Contraception Act simply protects patients’ right to access contraception, as well as providers’ right to provide it. I’m proud to join Senator Markey and Representative Fletcher in reintroducing this important bill. The right to control your own body, free from government interference, is as fundamental as it gets, and we’ll continue doing everything we can to protect the reproductive rights of all Americans.” 

"The Right to Contraception Act is a vital safeguard for the fundamental freedom to make personal health decisions,” said Dr. Dara Kass, Emergency Medicine Physician and Board Member for Americans for Contraception.  “As a physician, I see daily how contraception empowers patients to protect their health, plan their families, and shape their futures. Rep. Fletcher’s leadership in advancing this legislation is critical to securing this essential right for all Americans."

“Republicans promised on the campaign trail that they wanted to protect contraception, but there isn’t a single Congressional Republican who has signed on to the Right to Contraception Act,” said Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All.  “Actions speak louder than words and refusing to back this commonsense bill is a refusal to listen to what voters overwhelmingly support across party lines. No matter what they say, Republicans never had any intention of protecting the fundamental right to contraception.  Thank you to Senators Markey and Hirono and Representatives Fletcher, Craig, Williams, and Jacobs for introducing this essential legislation, and to all of our champions in Congress for reaffirming their commitment to protecting reproductive freedom.” 

“As an OB-GYN, I’ve seen firsthand that the right to birth control is essential for the well-being of my patients, their families and their communities,” said Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH, CEO of Power to Decide.  “For nearly six decades, birth control has allowed millions of people to manage health conditions, plan if and when to have children and achieve their career and educational aspirations. Not surprisingly, birth control is incredibly popular and those who attack it are spreading misinformation and disinformation in order to justify their attacks. If policymakers truly mean what they say regarding support for contraception, there is no clearer way to meaningfully demonstrate that support than by co-sponsoring and passing the Right to Contraception Act.”

“Threats to contraceptive access are on the rise—misinformation, distortion of science, funding cuts, restrictions on young peoples’ access, and more,” Clare Coleman, President and CEO, NFPRHA.  Plus, the network of family planning providers who deliver reproductive health care to thousands is facing unprecedented attacks. Contraception helps people who want to have a baby have well-timed, healthier pregnancies, and more agency in their relationships, education, work life, and finances. That’s why Americans overwhelmingly support contraceptive access. Congress must meet the moment and enshrine the right to contraception into law.”

Texas is one of seven states that allows pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions based on their personal beliefs.  And, Texas is one of 24 states that restricts minors' ability to obtain contraception without parental consent, unless they access confidential services at federally funded Title X clinics.

In 2022, the Supreme Court held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationthat the Constitution does not confer the right to abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade.  In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly called on the Supreme Court to reconsider its decisions protecting fundamental rights, including the right to use contraceptives, which is recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut.   Enshrining the right to contraception into federal law would reverse steps already taken by Republicans in states across the country to restrict access to contraceptives and ensure that any future attempt by the far-right majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Griswold would not endanger access to this essential health care. 

If enacted, the Right to Contraception Act would: 

• Create a federal right for people to obtain contraceptives; 
• Establish a right for health care providers to provide contraceptives and information related to contraception; 
• Allow the Department of Justice, as well as providers and individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception access made unlawful under the legislation, to go to court to enforce these rights; and 
• Protect access to a range of contraceptive methods, devices, and medications used to prevent pregnancy, including but not limited to oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, and intrauterine devices (IUDs).

The Advocates for Youth, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Humanist Association, American Public Health Association, Americans for Contraception, Center for American Progress, Center for Biological Diversity, Guttmacher Institute, Ibis Reproductive Health, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Health Law Program, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women's Law Center, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Population Connection Action Fund, Power to Decide, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), Reproductive Health Access Project, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, and Upstream USA have endorsed the Right to Contraception Act at the time of its introduction. 

Congresswoman Fletcher is Vice Chair and Whip of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus (RFC).  RFC is a coalition of members in the U.S. House of Representatives who are working to preserve, protect, and advance policies that ensure reproductive autonomy.   

Congresswoman Fletcher has led several efforts to protect access to abortion.  She is the lead House sponsor of the bill to protect the right to travel between states to obtain an abortion, the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which passed the House in the 117th Congress.  She also co-led the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act to establish a grant program.

Congresswoman Fletcher also introduced the Protecting Reproductive Freedom Act, H.R. 2573, with Congressman Pat Ryan (NY-18) to reaffirm that the abortion pill was appropriately approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

As efforts to undermine reproductive freedom have increased since the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, including the temporary suspension of in vitro fertilization procedures in Alabama, Congresswoman Fletcher has continued advocating for the legalization of abortion in all 50 states

To view the full text of the Right to Contraception Act, click here.